§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent estimate has been made by his Department or its non-departmental public bodies or consultants reporting to his Department of the number of radioactive packages(a) imported into, (b) exported from and (c) transported within the United Kingdom within the most recent year for which figures are available; and if he will outline the conditions under which any shipment of radioactive material has to be notified in advance to his Department. [27988]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonData on the number of radioactive packages transported into, from and within the UK are not collected by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions or by the Environment Agency. However, it can be estimated that of the order of 500,000 packages of radioactive material are carried by road annually in the United Kingdom (source: Radiation Exposure from the Normal Transport of Radioactive Materials within the UK 1991 Review, by R. Gelder, NRPB Report NRPB-R255, a copy of which is held in the Library).
Requirements for notification in advance of shipment are given in paragraph 456 of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material 1985 Edition (As Amended 1990), a copy of which is held in the Library. Notification is required for:
all type B(M) packages; all transports made under special arrangement; and any type B(U) packages containing radioactive material in excess of defined quantities.